Brownie Ponts Blog

I’ve enjoyed watching the food blog collective come to the realization that soup weather is indeed here. I came to this realization the same weekend I tried to make gummi candies. Making gummies and Oregon’s rainy season do not mix. My grapefruit sours turned into jelly blobs overnight! Bah, so much for the power of bringing sugar to hard crack stage.

The next night I made this great inpromtu Butternut Squash soup that was very speedy, thanks to my pressure cooker. We devoured our soup with a loaf of Eugene City Bakery Emmenthaler with red Onion Sourdough.

Our beloved neighborhood bakery has brought out their schedule for specialty breads, many of which have been successfully tested by us for their soup worthyness. The Multigrain Sourdough wowed us this weekend when we brought it over to our friends’ house for soup. Thick, nutty, chewy, it was perfect when just slightly toasted and then dunked into our salmon soup. I have my eye on the Chocolate Cherry Sourdough, as this recipe has been calling me from Nancy Silverton’s bread book on my shelf.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Roasted Hazlenuts

Hazlenut OilThis is a nutty oil to drizzle across the surface of the soup. While entirely optional, it lends a nice roasted flavor to the squash and apples.

In a shallow pan, roast 2 Tbs of hazlenuts in a 350F oven until the nuts are a toasted tan color and aromatic. Add the nuts to a blender and cover with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Leaving the skin on the nuts lends a darker color to the oil, and slight dark flecks. Blend thoroughly till the nuts are pulverized in the olive oil. The aim is to make hazlenut flavored oil, as opposed to a nut butter. More oil may need to be added to the blender to make this pourable. Decant the flavored oil to a new container.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple

In a pressure cooker, saute 3/4 of an onion with a generous sprinkling of dried thyme and 1/4 tsp of salt.

When the onions have cooked through, add a splash of a white wine, one chopped apple, 11 oz of chopped butternut squash (the size of bag of frozen chopped butternut squash I had in my freezer), and enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover.

Lid the cooker, bringing to pressure and cook on low for 25 minutes.

When time has elapsed, (the contents are soft and break down easily), allow to cool slightly and then puree in a blender. Season with salt, pepper and your favorite flavored vinegar.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a drizzle of the hazlenut oil, and enjoy while curled up next to a rainy window.

I keep seeing that picture in the upper right and thinking it’s you! But it’s really Rachael Ray from her FHM magazine feature, right? I read that “food network as porn” Harper’s article and I’m sad that Sara Moulton has been given the boot…for what–so Rachael can have a 6th show?

What a hoot! Yes, it’s Ray Ray. I thought she’d make a good image for the food-porn link. The rest of her images from the FHM set can be found here.

I too miss shows about cooking. Real cooking, that takes more than 30 minutes, for people not afraid of doing their own prep.

Lovely picture, and it sounds like a fabulous soup! Do you strain the oil, or leave in the flecks for extra flavor?

Thanks Michelle. It is sooo tough getting outdoor light pictures these days! I haven’t been able to sneak home for shots like I want.

I left in the bits for color since I made the oil right before the soup was done. This could be strained too if you leave the nuts in the oil to mingle for a week or so. I read a recipe where someone made “walnut oil” this way instead of actual walnut oil.

I had no idea that was Rachael Ray. Somehow it doesn’t suprise me that she did softcore porn. The Daisy Duke outfit was a bit much I thought. If they were going to do the farm girl thing, they should have at least had her churning her own butter, if you know what I mean.

And it is most definitely soup and stew time of year. I’m trying to eye a date for Beef Bourguignon and wine tasting. mmmm..everything sauteed in butter then simmered.